The Hilton Garden Inn Bali Ngurah Rai Airport is the first Hilton Garden Inn branded property to debut in Indonesia. As its name suggest, it is conveniently located 500 metres away from the new Bali Ngurah Rai Airport. In fact, considering how the airport is right smack in the middle of Bali, this hotel puts you near the touristy area of Kuta but without the crowd. Also, the property has a partnership with Blue Bird Limo Service that provides complimentary shuttle service between the airport and the hotel.
I booked myself 2 nights here, on the day I arrived and the day before I departed, reason being it is a Category 1 hotel. Category 1 hotels are extremely rare with only 59 of them out of Hilton’s portfolio of over 4600 properties, and they usually represent the BEST value for money for point redemption. A night there only requires 5000 points. Considering the cost to purchase points with Hhonors is usually 1.4 cent per point (Sometimes they have discounts up to 100%, which brings down the price to 0.7 cents per point), what you are essentially getting is a night there for SGD$70 nett (or SGD$35 if you buy your points during discounted periods). An average night here can cost up to SGD$100 a night, so the discount one gets is quite significant.
After arriving at the hotel I found the security at the gate quite slack, but upon reaching the lobby, they requested I put my luggage through a metal detector. I mean if I had ill intentions, detecting it at the lobby of the hotel would be a tad too late already. Moving on from the lax security, the hotel itself was beautiful. It exceeded all expectations I had of a Hilton Garden Inn. Having lived in many during my time in the United States, this property puts all of them to shame. Things are really better in Asia.
The lobby was open air and spacious with tons of sitting area. Check in on the other hand was a nightmare, what was supposed to be a breeze took almost 20 minutes because the front desk agent was so slow. Like he would take 5 minutes to scan my passport and then another 5 minutes to assign me a room, and 10 minutes to give me a brief of the hotel. I guess this is their way of life, where there is no need for speed and efficiency. They do things at their own pace and there is no incentive for them to do things faster. This seems to be the service I get when I interact with everyone at the property too.
As a Hilton HHonors Diamond member, I was assigned a suite on the 3rd floor. The room was amazing with the industrial chic look it was going for. Typical of all hotels near beaches, the floors are not carpeted, but that did not bother me much. To the right upon entering the room is the guest toilet. The living area was quite sufficient with a couch, a dining table with 3 seats and a desk. There was absolutely no view to speak of, but it was fine since it was a one nighter.
There was a door leading to the bedroom, which featured a king size bed. One thing about Hilton branded properties are that they do not have a standardize brand of bedding, so one can expect a different bed at every property. The bed here was quite firm and provided quite good support so I have no complains.
The bathroom featured a tub and a rain shower. Not too bad for a Hilton Garden Inn. In fact I was quite impressed by the Peter Roth Thomas toiletries (a Hilton standard) they provided, because the standardized toiletry for Hilton Garden Inn is Neutrogena. So this property is going above by providing something nicer.
As part of my Diamond benefit, I also got complimentary breakfast, which was served at The Garden Grill restaurant. Not the widest of spread, but there were pastries, waffles, fruits, yogurt, an egg station, bacon, sausages, some Indonesian food. Filled me up pretty well, so it served its purpose. I also had dinner here the previous night and the Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice) was one of the best I have ever had.
The restaurant also overlooked the pool, which was rather fancy, but I did not get a chance to use it at all. There was also a gym, which I had to walk past whenever I wanted to get to my room, which was well equipped.
Overall, there is nothing not to love about this property. There was great diamond recognition, the room was gorgeous, and the staffs were all very friendly. For the price point, this will be my to-go property if I ever have a flight in late or an early flight out. An excellent addition to the Hilton portfolio for sure.